With their colorful appearance and sweet, delicious taste, macarons are the perfect cookies for special occasions. If you're celebrating a birthday, though, you may want to take the usual macrons up a notch and make a batch that features the rich flavor of cake batter. By mixing some vanilla cake mix and butter extract into the macaron's buttercream filling, you'll wind up with cookies that taste just like a spoonful of your favorite cake batter. Add some sprinkles and you'll have the perfect festive cookies for your next birthday party.

Ingredients

Macarons

3 egg whites, at room temperature

¼ teaspoon (1 g) cream of tartar

¼ cup (50 g) superfine sugar

2 cups (200 g) powdered sugar

1 cup (120 g) almond meal

2 tablespoons (20 g) rainbow sprinkles (optional)

Filling

½ cup (113 g) butter, softened

1 ½ cups (150 g) powdered sugar

⅓ cup (42 g) vanilla cake mix

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) butter extract

2 tablespoons (20 g) rainbow sprinkles

Steps

Part 1

Preparing the Meringue

1

Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet. To ensure that the oven is hot enough to bake the cookies, set the temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius). Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper to keep the macarons from sticking.[1]

If you prefer, you can substitute a silicone baking mat for the parchment paper.

2

Beat the egg whites, superfine sugar, and cream of tartar together. Add 3 egg whites, ¼ teaspoon (1 g) of cream of tartar, and ¼ cup (50 g) of superfine sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment in place. Beat the mixture on medium speed for 2 minutes.[2]

You can use a handheld electric mixer to mix the macaron batter if you prefer.

To separate the egg white from the yolk, break the egg against a flat surface, such as a countertop. Separate the egg into two halves over a bowl, and allow the yolk to fall into the lower half. Move the yolk back and forth, letting the white drip into the bowl below. Continue moving the yolk until you’ve removed all of the egg white.

Superfine sugar is also known as caster sugar.

3

Turn up the speed on the mixer and beat the mixture for another couple of minutes. After you’ve beaten the egg white mixture for a couple of minutes on medium, turn up the stand mixer’s speed to high. Beat the mixture for another 2 minutes, or until it is very stiff.[3]

Part 2

Adding the Dry Ingredients

1

Sift the powdered sugar and almond meal together. Add 2 cups (200 g) powdered sugar and 1 cup (120 g) of almond meal to a sifter. Sift the two into a bowl to remove any hard lumps.[4]

Almond meal is a coarsely ground flour type product made from almonds. You can find it at most grocery stores, or you can make your own.

If you don’t have a sifter, you can use a fine mesh sieve to sift the powdered sugar and almond meal. Use a clean hand to push the mixture through the sieve.

2

Fold the almond meal and powdered sugar into the meringue. After you’ve sifted the powdered sugar and almond meal together, add the mixture to the egg whites. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the meringue until they’re fully incorporated.[5]

You don’t need to be particularly careful or gentle when you fold in the powdered sugar and almond meal because you want to knock some air out of the meringue mixture.

When you’ve finished mixing the batter, it should have a thick, paste-like consistency.

If you want to make colorful macarons, you can add several drops of red, blue, green, or your favorite shade of food coloring to the batter and mix it in to tint the cookies.

3

Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag and allow to rest. After the batter is completely mixed, use the spatula to place it in a pastry bag fitted with a circular tip. Let the macaron batter rest in the bag for about 10 minutes before piping.[6]

A round tip that’s between ½- and 1-inch (13- to 25-mm) works best for piping the macarons.

If you don’t have a pastry bag, transfer the macaron batter to a large plastic zipper bag. When you’re ready to make the cookies, cut off a corner of the bag with scissors and pipe directly from it.

Part 3

Baking the Macarons

1

Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet. After you’ve allowed the batter to rest for a while, use the pastry bag to pipe it into 1-inch (2.5-cm) mounds on the lined baking sheet. Make sure that the mounds are about 2-inches (5-cm) apart.

2

Knock the baking sheet against a hard surface and air dry the macarons. Once you’ve piped out all of the cookies, hold the baking sheet and tap it against a hard surface, such as a countertop or table. Turn the sheet 90 degrees and tap it again. Next, allow the macarons to air dry for 10 minutes to ensure that they're fully set.[7]

Tapping the baking sheets against a hard surface knocks the air bubbles out of the macarons so they won’t crack when they bake.

If you want to add sprinkles to the cookies, sprinkle approximately 2 tablespoons (20 g) of rainbow sprinkles over half of the mounds before they air dry.

3

Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes. When the macarons have air dried for several minutes, place the baking sheet in the pre-heated oven. Let the cookies bake until you can easily lift them off the parchment paper, which should take approximately 20 minutes.[8]

If the macarons stick when you try to remove them from the parchment paper, they likely need to bake for a few more minutes.

The macarons will expand slightly as they bake, which can also help you tell whether they’re finished baking.

4

Allow the macarons to cool. Once the macarons are finished baking, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

It’s important to make sure that the macarons are completely cool before you add the filling or it may melt off the cookies.

You can usually find butter extract at the grocery store in the same aisle that vanilla, mint, maple, and other flavor extracts are sold.

2

Fold in the sprinkles. After you’ve blended the butter mixture, add 2 tablespoons (20 g) of rainbow sprinkles to the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to fold them in so they’re evenly distributed.[10]

You can use whatever color sprinkles you like, though rainbow offers the most festive look for the macarons.

3

Transfer the filling to a pastry bag. Once the birthday cake filling is made, use the spatula to place it in a pastry bag. Make sure that the bag is fitted with a circular tip that’s at least ½-inch (13-mm) wide.[11]

If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can use a plastic zipper bag just as you did to pipe the macarons.

Part 5

Assembling the Macarons

1

Pair similar sized macarons and turn over. When the macarons are cooled, sort through the cookies to group them by size. Match up two cookies that are roughly the same size and turn over the cookie that will serve as the bottom of the macaron so it’s ready for piping.[12]

If you added sprinkles to half of the macarons, make sure to match up one plain and one sprinkled cookie. The sprinkled cookies should serve as the tops for the macarons.

2

Pipe the filling onto one cookie and top with another. Once the macarons are paired, use the pastry bag to pipe a dab of the filling onto the bottom cookie. Press the other cookie on top to form a sandwich. Repeat the process with all of the macarons.[13]

3

Serve the macarons immediately. After you’ve filled all of the macarons, set them out on a platter. They are best eaten fresh, so serve immediately.[14]

If you have any macarons leftover, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat them, let them sit out for about a half hour to soften the buttercream filling.